Soundtrack for a 'Ship
by notesofwimsey
Summary: Ten songs from my "writing" playlist plus the number of minutes it takes each song to play equals ten moments for Stella and Flack in no particular order.


_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters and none of the songs which served as inspiration for this story. No infringement is intended, though my borrowing of other people's genius was certainly intentional._

_A/N: So I wasn't first with a S/F Shuffle, but I hope you enjoy these anyway. I admit this time I had to cheat just a tiny bit by looking up some lyrics – I didn't know all the songs as well as I do most of my playlist._

_Btw, nyakattia gets credit for introducing me to Australian singer Missy Higgins, and people on youtube and lj have introduced me to some of the other artists. Thanks to all!_

* * *

**Soundtrack for a 'Ship**

Stella and Flack 10 Song Challenge

* * *

**No Bravery – James Blunt**

She stood at the top of the stairs, gun at the ready, waiting to hear his voice.

"Clear!"

She followed him in, checking behind doors, moving towards the open window.

"Flack – this way!"

Before she could finish the sentence, he was out the window, identifying himself and following the perp down the fire escape. She barely had time to register the gun pointing towards him before she was screaming at him and talking rapidly into her wrist unit.

"Shots fired! Shots fired! I need back-up here!"

Her heart simply stopped when she heard his voice call out once more, then a shot, then nothing.

Nothing.

She moved to the window as if swimming through ocean waves so high they continually threatened to suck her down, and looked out the window.

* * *

**No One's Going to Love You – Band of Horses**

She'd fought her whole life to find someone who would be hers and no one else's. Orphanages, foster homes, dorms: none of them were noted for their one-on-one relationships.

When she came to work, she made friends easily. But they were married friends, female friends, couple friends. No one who was hers alone.

Frankie wanted to be hers a little too much.

Drew didn't want her at all – just revenge.

But sometimes, when she looked into Flack's eyes, she thought she might have found what she had looked for all her life: someone who would love her for herself alone, who would love her more than anyone else ever had.

And one day, she might just take a step towards that love in his eyes.

But not today.

Because she might be wrong.

* * *

**Porcelain Heart – BarlowGirl**

He had been brought up in a close noisy family. Siblings, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles: sometimes there were too many people in his life. He had never known what it was to be alone in the world.

He could pick up the phone and call dozens of people who lived within minutes of his apartment. He could talk to people who had known him his entire life. He barely had to stretch his arms to their full-length before he touched someone who knew him almost better than he knew himself.

He wished that he could show her what it was like to have a place in the world so sure that nothing could tip him off-balance for long.

He wished he could be that for her – her solid base, the thing that kept her balanced and secure.

But he was afraid that even the offer of it would only push her to realize her solitude. He was afraid of being the one who pointed out how alone she was.

Instead of being the one who connected her to the world around her.

* * *

**How Many Tears – Martin Guerre (the Musical)**

She had sat here before, she thought. For Danny. For Mac. For Sheldon.

For Flack.

More than once.

She had sat here in this corridor, holding a tepid cup of coffee in her hand more than once. Sometimes for a friend. Sometimes for a witness. Sometimes for a fellow officer – someone she would barely remember months later when she saw him healthy and back at work.

She had sat here before. She would sit here again.

But this time, the coffee was diluted with the tears that would not stop dripping down her cheeks.

This time, she did not know how to stop the crying. She was not even sure whom she was crying for.

Because he was going to be fine. The doctor had told her so. Mac had told her so. Sheldon had told her so, and she trusted him.

But until Flack told her he was going to be all right, she would continue to cry.

It was all she could do for him.

* * *

**Blackbird – Sarah McLaughlin**

They sat outside, at a little café, sipping coffee and staring into the pale spring sun. Children played in the greening park across the street. Trees were beginning to blush into bloom. Birds sang overhead.

She put her face up to the sun and sighed. Winter was finally over. It was time to open her heart again to the spring.

He sat and watched her blossom in the fresh breeze that played in her dark curls.

He'd been waiting for this moment.

* * *

**This is How it Goes – Missy Higgins**

They moved down the street, in perfect sync with each other, arguing amicably about the case they were following. She was running ahead of him, ahead of the evidence, and he was trying to keep her on track, trying to keep her focused.

They used to fight until one of them would turn away in disgust or dismay. They used to drive each other into frustrated fits.

She surged ahead of him, her long legs churning up the sidewalk even in her high-heeled boots.

He reached for her hand and pulled her gently, so that she stumbled against him, one hand on his chest. He laughed into her flushed face, and bent his head to press a kiss against her lips.

She could only get so far before he caught up with her.

* * *

**Sugarcane – Missy Higgins**

She stood staring into the interview room, her eyes dark with anger. The old man in the room seemed so small, so incapable of harm.

Flack sat across from him, treating him gently so far, trying to talk him into giving up too much, saying more than he should.

Stella's hand clenched on the file she held, the one with the pictures, the evidence, the horror which this man had inflicted over and over.

Flack could feel her eyes burning through the one-way glass. He began to push harder, then harder still. He was on his feet, leaning over the table, his face in the old man's.

Stella shuddered when the perp looked into the window, capturing her eyes with his.

His were as empty as a broken glass.

* * *

**Through the Dark – K T Tunstall**

She had always thought she knew what she wanted. She had always thought she knew who she was. She had to – she'd had to make herself without regard to others.

She had chosen her career – a way to fight against the dark she was afraid followed her everywhere she went.

She had chosen to fight for the light.

But now she was uncertain. Everything that happened seemed to push her a little closer to that dark she had fought so long.

She had never wanted to depend on anyone for anything. But more and more she found herself looking to others – to her partners, her co-workers, her friends – for help through the bad times.

She had always prided herself on doing it herself, without help.

And now she was not sure whether depending on others made her weak.

Or made her strong enough to face the world she saw every day.

She was feeling her way through the dark – still searching for the light.

* * *

**Love Song - Sara Bareilles**

"Come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Just come with me and you'll see."

"I wish you would just tell me."

"What would be the fun in that?"

"Flack, I swear, I am not getting into that car until you tell me where we are going!"

"Okay. We'll compromise. I'll take you where I had planned, and if you don't like it, you can kick my ass and I'll still take you home."

"Oh? Where exactly is the compromise there? I do what you want me to, and you get …what?"

"I promise, you'll want to be there when we get there."

"How much longer?"

"A few minutes."

"Don? Why are we at a church?"

"Come on, Stel."

"What is going on? Oh – Don…"

"I told you you'd like it."

"When did they do this? When did they decide?"

"Last week after that case went so bad. Come on, they need a Maid of Honour and a Best Man. You up for it?"

"_I Danny Messer, take you, Lindsay Monroe…"_

* * *

**Thru the Glass – Thirteen Senses**

It had been a bad week. Double shifts, too many cases, too many bodies, too many hours of dead ends and not enough evidence. Stella rubbed her aching head, and sighed. Time to get out of Dodge.

She took the elevator down the building and stepped out into sunshine. Moving briskly, she ran straight into Don Flack, and stepped back with a grunt.

"Sorry, Stel! You okay?" Concern filled the blue eyes she was secretly captivated by.

She shook her head and mumbled, "Need air. I'm going to find a hill somewhere. Or a beach. And just sit for about a month."

He swung into step beside her. "I have a full tank of gas, and my shift is over. Let me sweep you away."

She didn't even hesitate, linking her arm in his. "Let's go."


End file.
